In a viral email, a leader of the American Airlines flight attendant union attacked the chief executive and president his company. He criticized the airline's onboard products and said that the situation has become so dire that he feels embarrassed to work for it.The President of the Los Angeles-based Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA), takes aim at his company's decision to remove seatback video screens from its single aisle aircraft, while United, its main competitor, is spending millions of dollars to replace them.Let me be truthful. This company has been a nightmare. I have seen the upper management destroying the brand over the past months.You have not only destroyed it but you are still tone-deaf and refuse to listen to the front line workers who truly wanted this airline to succeed against United.The union leader recounts a story about how airlines management seem to ignore fears that removing seatback videos and adding more seats to their planes may not be a smart business move.One perfect example is last month's Crew News. A flight attendant inquired about United's plans to add seatback IFE on all planes. The email goes on.The woman, who spoke in a British accent and was supposedly involved in the decision-making process regarding on-board entertainment, gave me one of the most disengaged answers that I have ever heard from management. She stated that management enjoys streaming the content and then left it at that.Real managers would add, but we are always looking at different options. Instead, her insulting response shut down all discussion. This is indicative of our intransigent, uninterested and tone-deaf management. It's no wonder that our product sells at bargain basement prices.The flight attendant signs off and says: I have never been more ashamed to work for this company.However, a spokesperson for American, based in Dallas Fort Worth, dismissed the claims, saying that 90% of customers bring their own devices to the plane so there is no need to use seatback screens. American offers over 600 titles that can be streamed for free with WiFi and in-seat power.The airline stated that empowering customers to stream content from their devices allows them to offer fresh, varied and innovative content that is regularly updated.Many long-standing American Airlines customers hoped that United's purchase of 270 new narrowbody aircrafts and the installation of state-of-the art seatback video across its fleet would lead to a rethink at American Airlines. It seems that the airline is increasing its cuts.TOTH: View from The Wing
